


Council Meeting

by IAmAwesomeMe



Series: DinLuke slow burn but I also have an actual plot [3]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Deal With It, Don't ask me why, M/M, but they are, in a universe with such advanced technology, magic is used, people are impressed by magic show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmAwesomeMe/pseuds/IAmAwesomeMe
Summary: So Din is King of Mandalore and he knew that would eventually have to assume some of it's duties but he didn't know that the first thing he would do is attend the council meeting that Luke and Leia had organised.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: DinLuke slow burn but I also have an actual plot [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121021
Comments: 13
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For those who do not know, I take the title of "slowburn" very seriously.

Another three months later, after hogtieing and freezing a bounty that tried to run (why do they always do that) Din found another message waiting for him.

_Din, I was hoping to talk to you. There’s- Well, there’s a favor I want to ask of you. The situation is a bit complicated but please give me a call so I can discus it with you._

Din wondered what the favor was. More Mando’an lessons?

-

Fifteen minutes later, he was on a call with Luke. Apparently, there was a big meeting for some galactic something or other (Din couldn’t keep track of all the different councils) but this one was big and Luke needed to be there to represent the Jedi order. The person who he usually has watch the camp if he’s away on business is busy. Luke wondered if Din could come by and babysit the campers while he’s away. Din already knows some of the campers, knew the schedule of the camp, and was a Mandalorian so he could protect the kids if he needs to. Din agrees to it, and Luke gives him the date he’s supposed to arrive on.

-

About three weeks later, Din arrives at the academy. Leia was there, along with Luke. Apparently they were in a rush so they didn’t have long to talk but as they were loading the last of their cargo into Leia’s ship she couldn’t help talk about how excited she was for this.

“It’s going to be awesome,” she went on. “We have gathered together all the major leaders from every planet across the galaxy. A lot of people were really hurt by what the empire did and this is a chance for everybody to start helping each other to rebuild.”

“Leia, we gotta go,” Luke shouted down.

“One second,” she said. “Everyone is going to work together to make sure that we can once and for all get out of the darkness that the empire has left in it’s wake and come into the light together.”

“I’m serious,” Luke cried.

“Fine,” Leis shouted back up, but quickly turned back to Din. “Oh, you’ll like this. We actually invited the Mand’alor to come and have a seat. We’re going to try and see if we can’t help the Mandalorians re-populate their home world.”

“Leia!” Luke shouted.

“I’m coming!” she yelled back. And just like that, before Din could say another word, she was on the ship and they flew away.

-

It was a good 10 minutes before Din could put a coherent thought together. That thought was: Is it possible that if I just don’t show up, they forget about it entirely?

Din eventually reasoned, as he walked back to camp, that since Din hasn’t been able to return the darksaber to Bo-Katan in over half a year, it is possible that he won’t be able to. He might have to start assuming the role of Mand’alor. If that is the case, he can’t possibly hide it from Luke and Leia.

When he got back to camp he went to Luke’s tent. There was the radio, but the ship was out of range. He would have to ping it directly. Unfortunately, Luke kept a contact list of pings with jokes for all the contact names. Things like _best wingman_ , _Hoth 4 eva_ , _trouble x2_ , and _best bro_ filled his contact sheet. Din couldn’t even guess at which one was his sister.

Eventually, Din decided that if they really needed him, he’ll just show up at the next one and went out to guide some kids on a subject he knew nothing about.

-

A few hours later, Luke and Leia arrive at Couscant. Late.

But it turns out that half the delegations hadn’t even arrived.

“So we rushed for nothing,” Luke said with a big sigh.

“Sorry, brother,” Leia said. “I know that threw a wrench into your plans.”

In truth, Han had volunteered to look after the kids. But Luke and Leia thought that if they asked Din, some more face to face time with him couldn’t hurt. They thought they would spend a day with him at the start, show him around, then go to their meeting and when they come back insist that Din stay for the celebratory bonfire which would also mean that he might spend another night.

But then there was a mix up with the timing on all the different time zones and across so many different planets that Luke and Leia were actually going to be late.

“At least you can begin phase two,” Leia offered as a condolence. Phase two consisted of asking the Queen of Mandalore, Bo-Katan, all that she knew about Din to hopefully gain some insight into how to get close to him.

-

Fifteen minutes later, they were speaking to the Couscant representative who was helping organise everyone’s accommodation while they were here. “I was wondering where Bo-Katan was staying, I would like to have a word with her.

“Bo-Katan isn’t with us,” he responded.

“She died?” Leia was surprised.

“No, she’s merely not attending this council meeting.”

“But she loves this kind of stuff,” Luke responded. He had heard of her by reputation only. “I would thought she would have jumped at the chance once she became Queen of Mandalore.”

“She’s not Queen of Mandalore, though.” The councillor replied.

“I thought she reclaimed the darksaber from Gideon when she helped bring him into custody.”

“She was there, but she wasn’t the one who defeated him so it isn’t rightfully hers. Instead, Mandalore has a new king.”

Luke turned to Leia. “Did you know that you should send the invite to a new King, not a new Queen?”

“No, I just sent it to Bo-Katan.”

“Well, it’s too late now,” Luke threw his hand in the air. “I doubt we could send an invite fast enough, even if we knew who he was. I guess there just won’t be a Mandalorian representative.” He was disappointed. He wanted to tell Din all about it but apparently that just wasn’t meant to be.

“To be fair, barely half the representatives are here,” The Couscant representative reminded them. “And thanks to the mix up with the dates probably won’t be for another few days. You could still go find and get the Mandalorian king if you wanted to.”

“We don’t know where to find him,” Luke pointed out. “Or even who he is.”

“No, but Bo-Katan does,” Leia remembered. “And I know where to find Bo-Katan.”

-

A few short hours later, they had arrived. They knew Bo-Katan hung out around here. They eventually arrived at the restaurant she usually hung around. They were told she would actually be at a pub a little further down the road. They found her in a corner booth, halfway through a pint. Luke had never seen a Mandalorian drinking, much less one that’s already half drunk.

“Bo-Katan, I’m Leia Organa and this is my brother, Luke Skywalker,” she introduced herself.

“I know who you are,” she responded, giving Luke a dirty look.

“Did you get my invitation?” Leia continued.

“I got it,” she replied.

“There was a bit of a mix up,” Leia explained. “We meant to send it to the Mand’alor and thought that was you but were mistaken. We were wondering if you could point us to him and we will be on our way.”

Bo-Katan snorted at that. “Why would I do that?”

“To make sure the Mandalorians had a representative on the council,” Leia explained.

Bo-Katan rolled her eyes. It was clear to Luke that this was a low point for her. Luke felt like maybe he should just go, but he needed this information.

“Why should I tell you,” Bo-Katan retorted, looking directly at Luke. “You already know him.”

Luke was confused. Leia tried to ask for more information, but Bo-Katan dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Their conversation was over.

-

Fifteen minutes later, they were siting on the steps outside the pub.

“What does she mean,” Leia wondered. Luke was wondering the exact same thing. “She looked at you, didn’t she? She said you know it, Luke. Do you?”

“I swear I don’t,” Luke said. He tried to remember being there for a darksaber duel but he’s never even seen the thing, much less saw someone duel with it. Besides, he didn’t even know all that many Mandalorians. The only one that he really knew was Din.

Luke sighed. Din. He hadn’t been able to truly concentrate on anything since he had last seen Din. He couldn’t stop thinking about Din’s handsome face.

Wait. Something jolted in his memory. Din’s face... On the bridge... With Bo-Katan...

“I’m an idiot,” was the conclusion Luke came to.

“You know who it is?” Leia said excitedly.

“Yes, but before I tell you, you have to promise to not get too mad.”

“I promise.”

“Well, I was just thinking, remembering really, and I actually was there when Moff Gideon was captured. That’s actually where I meet… Din.”

Leia couldn’t say anything for a solid minute. “YOU IDIOT!” she yelled at him.

“You promised you wouldn’t get mad!” Luke objected.

“You’re boyfriend was King of Mandalore this entire time and you didn’t tell me!”

“Hey! I didn’t know until five seconds ago,” Luke objected.

“Yeah, you really are an idiot,” Leia remarked. She was calming down now. There was never anything malicious about the way she insulted her brother, he was just her brother and that’s how they behaved together.

“I mean, we both thought it was Bo-Katan, remember.” Luke defended himself.

“That’s true.”

“And besides,” Luke added, “boyfriend would imply that it was mutual or that I was in an actual relationship which isn’t the case either way. He’s my crush, nothing more.”

“Well, lets go get him so we can get on with the council meeting,” Leia said as they got up and started walking back to the ship. “I’ll call Han and ask if he can take over looking after the camp. There is one upside to all this,” Leia smiled knowingly.

“What’s that?” Luke couldn’t see it.

“A lot more face time with your crush,” Leia reminded him.

Luke smiled all the way back to the ship.

-

A few more hours later, they were back at the camp.


	2. Chapter 2

All in all, Din was having a pretty good time as the camp leader. They seemed to follow what he told them to do pretty well. Plus, the older campers did a really good job of helping look after the younger ones. It was a good day, all in all. They had just finished dinner and Din wanted to give them a little treat. He decided to give a couple students a ride on his jet pack, since that’s what they were most interested in. Well, they had shown an interest in every single part of Din’s Mandalorian identity, But Din figured giving them a jetpack was better than giving them a flamethrower.

“You good?” he asked Tal’illk, making sure to secure all the straps on the harness they had crudely designed to allow the older kids to wear the jetpacks themselves. The younger ones he would take up by himself.

“All good,” Tal’illk confirmed.

“Everybody step back,” he instructed. All the kids formed a big circle around Tal’illk, watching him intently. Din stepped back, joining the circle. They were right at the T where the path with the sleeping tents meets the main road. Tal’illk was at the center of the T and everyone else was at least 15 feet away, watching him. Din brought up the screen on his wrist that controlled the jetpack. It was set for a fully grown Mandalorian, so Din had to control it manually. He started with just a little power, barely enough to lift Tal’illk off the ground. That got a huge reaction. Then Din added a little more power, lifting Tal’illk 10 feet into the air. He gave out a big, excited “Woo-hoo” and Din decided to take him even higher.

He was 30 feet in the air, hovering. All the kids on the ground were cheering him on. Din eased up on the gas and Tal’illk fell to earth. Din turned on the engines again before he hit the ground. This was what young foundlings did for fun, trying to go as high as they could then switching off their jetpacks and turning them on again as close to the ground as possible. But Did didn’t do any truly daredevil stunts with Tal’illk. He just had him fall from around 30 feet to around 10. If the other foundlings had seen him, they would have made fun of him for sure. But he didn’t know that and was having the time of his life. The other kids were also getting supper excited. After about 10 or so freefalls Din brought Tal’illk back down to earth and let someone else have a turn.

The student was climbing in the sky when Din heard a voice behind him “Din?”

The Mandalorian turned around and saw Luke and Leia emerged from the woods that lead up to the landing platform. Din was surprised by their sudden appearance. They hadn’t come from a direction that would have them fly over the camp and Din had been focusing on keeping the kid in the jetpack from crashing. “Luke,” was all he could say. But he quickly regained his composure. “Is your meeting done, I thought you said it would go on for a few days.”

“Umm, well.” Luke didn’t exactly know how to explain this situation. But before he could attempt it, one of his students interrupted them.

“Master Djarin!” Sani shouted, pointing at the kid in the jetpack who was continuing to climb higher and higher since Din had left his finger on the up button since being distracted by Luke’s arrival.

Din got the jetpack to hover and stop climbing further. Then he brought concentrated on bringing it down slowly. Never dropping for more than 20 or so feet at a time, but also making sure to not bring it down too slowly since the child looked like they wanted out.

Luke noticed how careful Din was with the children. He made sure they were safe but more than that, that they were comfortable. He’s a good dad, Luke remembered with a smile.

Eventually, the kid was brought down to earth. Din got him out of the jetpack backpack and made sure he was ok.

“How about everyone follows Leia to the campfire while I talk with… Master Djarin,” Luke had never thought of calling him that, but the title certainly fit well.

The crowd dispersed, following their leader, as Din and Luke walked along the path with the sleeping tents on it. Now Luke was alone with Din, and like always he had no idea what to say. There was a moment of silence before Din spoke up, restating his question.

“Did you guys finish your meeting?”

“No,” Luke answered. “Technically speaking it hasn’t even started yet. There was a problem with the time listed on the invitations and only half the people showed up. The others are going to be arriving sometime tomorrow or maybe the next day.”

“Oh, so you came back to check on the camp?”

“No.” Luke had no idea how to proceed. Just say it, he told himself. “We actually came back for you.”

“Oh.” Din remembered the last thing that he had heard before they left. They came back to fetch the King of Mandalore.

“Only if you want to,” Luke quickly added. “We just wanted to officially invite you.”

“I’m… not so sure that’s a good idea,” Din admitted. “I didn’t want the darksaber, I just wanted my kid. I have no idea what I’m doing, or if I should do anything. It’s… hard.” Luke felt sympathy for Din. He also had no idea what he was doing half the time. “Maybe you should just as Bo-Katan,” Din suggested. “She has a much better idea of what to do with all this.”

“We already spoke to Bo-Katan,” Luke informed him. He perked up at this news. “She didn’t want to have anything to do with us.” Din’s shoulders slouched in despair. “But Din,” Luke spoke reassuringly, “this council is going to be filled with people who have no idea what they are doing and are just trying to do right by their people, exactly like you. And it’s also going to be filled with wise rulers who can help you out. You could ask them for advice or assistance and I’m sure they’ll help however they can. Besides,” Luke’s tone softened, “it would really mean a lot if you were there.”

Din looked up at him. For whatever reason, Din believed him. Maybe it would help. And for the first time, Din didn’t actively dislike being King of Mandalore because it was what lead Luke to be looking at him so earnestly. “I’ll go,” he promised.

Luke smiled. “You will?”

“Well, we need someone to watch the camp,” Din remined him.

“Leia already called her husband. He’s coming tomorrow morning.”

“Great.” Din turned his attention back to the campfire. He would have to say good bye to Grogu again.

“Shall we join them?” Luke offered. Din nodded and they walked back to the campfire side by side.

After the campfire, Din hung back to talk to Grogu. Luke walked back to his tent, making sure everyone was settled on the way. When he got into his tent, he collapsed onto the bed. It was a long day, with a lot of flying back and forth. Luke was exhausted. Still, he can’t rest just yet. He got up and started to change into his pyjamas. Partway through, he was interrupted by someone coming into the tent.

Din walked in then realised his mistake to late. “Oh, um, I,” he alerted Luke to his presence. “I’m sorry.” He left the tent quickly.

“No, please, come in,” Luke welcomed him inside. He had already changed his pants so Din hadn’t actually seen anything other than Luke shirtless which Luke was happy to show him.

“Right, well.” Din stepped inside the tent. He was grateful that the helmet hid his blush as he looked down to the floor to avert his eyes. “I was going to sleep here tonight because I wanted to be close to the kids but now that you’re here I guess I don’t have to. I’ll be going.”

“You really don’t have to,” Luke told him. “I know how cramped the sleeping cabins on those old Razor Crests are. You’re welcome to stay here.”

Din was still blushing, it was hard to look at Luke Skywalker and not blush, but pulled him self together long enough to say “Much appreciated, thank you.”

Luke finished getting dressed very slowly, wanting to spend as long as possible shirtless, but Din wasn’t even looking. He had crawled into the right side of the bed, and Luke got in the left. He looked over, apparently the Mandalorian really did sleep in full armour every time.

“Are you sure you don’t want something more comfortable?”

Din sighed. “Mandalorian armour, it’s not like other armours. It’s designed to be worn all the time so comfort was a factor when they designed it. It’s not like sleeping on a cloud but it doesn’t hurt. If it hurt than the pain would distract you from battle.”

“So it’s like a second skin?” Luke asked.

“No. Because then you are liable to forget it’s even there. It’s more like…” Din tried to come up with a suitable analogy. “Wait, you’ve been to Hoth, right?” Luke nodded. “It’s like a really bulky coat. You are always aware of it’s presence, you never really forget that you are wearing it, but it doesn’t hurt.”

Luke nodded again. “I see.”

They lay there in silence again. Luke wanted to talk more, and luckily for him this night he had plenty of questions.

“So, you’re, like, the Mand’alor?” Luke asked.

Din nodded.

“You’re king of an entire planet.” Luke still could only partially believe it.

“It would appear so.”

“And you have the Darksaber.”

“All the time.”

That last answer confused Luke. “Like, you have the darksaber with you right now?”

Din sighed, then reached under the covers and pulled it out. Luke gave a sharp inhale. “Don’t you have your lightsaber with you all the time?”

“No,” Luke replied. “For sleeping I usually keep it on the desk.”

Din looked over to it. “Hmm.” Mandalorians wouldn’t have left it out in the open for anyone to take it when they are sleeping.

“Can I see it,” Luke asked, reaching out his hand.

Din hesitated at first, then handed the darksaber to Luke. Luke took it, handling it carefully. He sat up, and inspected it from end to end. He could only identify some of the techniques that were used to make it, since most of it was so ancient that it was from well before the modern era. Luke could tell that some parts had been repaired later on using modern techniques. Each person that owned it had left their own mark on the darksaber and on the history it carried with it.

Din watched Luke examine the weapon. He held it carefully. Din always respected people who respected their weapons, and it was clear Luke had a lot of respect for this one. He was studying it, wrapped up in his own thoughts, and Din liked seeing him this way. For whatever reason, Din couldn’t stop staring at Luke’s face.

“May I,” Luke asked.

“Of course,” Din replied.

Luke angled the weapon away from the two of them and activated the blade. Luke knew that it was called the darksaber for a reason, but he still couldn’t help but be shocked when the blade was revealed. It truly was darkness. It was so dark, it seemed to suck all the light away from everything else.

Din watched Luke’s face by the glow of the darksaber. He couldn’t bear to take his eyes away. And he didn’t know why.

Luke turned the blade off again and handed it back to Din. Din took it, and put it back where it was as Luke lay down beside him once more.

Something was troubling Luke as he got into bed once more. “Din?”

“Yeah”

Luke hesitated. “I don’t want this to be a stupid question but, well, how many weapons do you have on you at this moment?”

Din paused. “Well, there’s the whistling birds. Then there’s the gun. The other gun. The knife. The other knife. The third knife. Various micro grenades all over my person. The spear. Oh, and the darksaber.”

“Is that all?” Luke was slightly terrified.

“Well, technically the whole body of a Mandalorian is seen as one gigantic weapon so…”

Luke hadn’t realised just how much Din was carrying with him at any given time. “And you can really sleep like that?”

Something about Luke’s comedic timing made Din chuckle.

Suddenly, Luke couldn’t concentrate on anything else. He had just heard Din laugh. He had just made Din laugh. He couldn’t get over how nice it was to hear. Din had a really nice laugh. It was a shame he didn’t laugh more. Luke had a personal goal, of making Din laugh even more.

But all that was for another time. He was exhausted, so he lay down his head and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Din, Luke, and Leia were hanging out around the campfire. They had already had breakfast and all that, and were waiting for Han to arrive. The kids were all studying their own projects that Luke had given them a few days ago. Luke and Leia were telling Din everything that was going to happen during the council meeting.

Luke noticed out of the corner of his eye the trio were coming back from a walk with a bunch of flowers. There was nothing inherently suspicious about this, the path they had been walking on went through a flower garden and they often picked some. But this was more than just a few and there was something in the way they were whispering among each other that made Luke suspicious. They kept glancing up at Luke, Leia and Din and giggling amongst themselves.

Leia asked Luke a question and after he answered it turned his attention back to the trio. That was what they called the three young girls who were all around 10 that were really close and always stuck together. They would do all their activities together if they could. Now they seemed to be assembling a flower crown of some sort. Luke kept an eye on them, though he couldn’t see the harm in a flower crown.

They finished it, and the oldest, though bare in mind she was only older by a few months, used the force to levitate it in the air. It was fairly large, much larger than any of the trio’s head. Then they used the force to bring it over to the adults and it all made sense to Luke. A smile began to spread across his face.

Din was facing Luke and Leia, with his back turned to the rest of the camp. The trio crept over, and raised the flower crown up to place it on Din’s head. The girls all giggled, causing Din to turn around and they all ran away. Luke laughed, and Din turned back around. Luke couldn’t help it, Din just looked really good in a flower crown.

Din blushed under his helmet he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but Luke seemed to like it. He was really cute when he laughed. Din could watch him laugh forever. But Luke composed himself.

“Here, let me.” He stepped forward, till he was just inches away. Din would normally be uncomfortable with someone invading his personal space, but for some weird reason he only wanted Luke to step even closer. He was already super close; Din could see every detail of his clear blue eyes. He felt Luke’s hand reach up and pluck something off his helmet. “See,” Luke said, revealing a flower crown.

Din blushed. He can’t believe he had been wearing that. He looked behind him at the three little girls he now realized had put it on him. He was so embarrassed Luke had seen him like that.

But then Luke put the flower crown on his own head. He smiled up at Din. Din smiled back, under the helmet of course. He didn’t often do that but found himself doing it more and more. Something about the way Luke smiled, it was infectious. And Luke smiled so easily.

Leia watched the two just looking at each other. It was clear that Luke was into Din, but if Din wasn’t into Luke than why was he still standing there. He wasn’t moving away and was just staring into her brother’s eyes which Leia took to mean that yes, Din would be into some hypothetical idea of a relationship with Luke.

The pair was interrupted, however, when a familiar ship flew overhead. “That would be my husband,” Leia said.

The three of them walked up to meet him. Din had never meet Leia’s husband before, and was excited to. If he was anything like his wife, they would get along fine.

“Han Solo,” he introduced himself, and Din already didn’t like him.

For one, Din had heard about Han from Boba. Han, apparently, had been the one who had thrown him into the sarlack pit which almost killed him. Din seriously doubted how anyone as well-spoken, competent, and intelligent as Leia (whom he found he actually quite liked) could end up with someone as roguish as Han Solo. He held himself with a sort of self-indulgent swager that would have been charming on someone younger but Han wasn’t as young as he once was. All in all, Din didn’t like Han.

And it was mutual. Han wasn’t overly fond of Mandalorians to begin with, having had a bad experience with one some time ago, but from what he had heard from Leia it seemed the only thing this Mandalorian was good for was getting Luke to fall in love with him only to break his heart. Technically he hasn’t broken his heart yet but just you wait. Han turned to face his friend. “Nice hat,” he commented.

Luke looked up at it. “Yeah. I think I look good in a crown.” Then looked over at the Mandalorian next to him. “Though not as good as Din looked.”

Din blushed, but then Han laughed. And it wasn’t the nice laugh that Luke had, it was a very mean laugh. “I’ve never seen an Mandalorian in a flower crown,” Han commented.

“You still haven’t.” Din’s tone was the warning tone he usually reserved for people he was about to fight. Say that again and it might be the last thing you say.

Luke and Leia exchanged a look, sensing the tension between the two. Han had a lovable but grating personality, it’s just that when you first meet him it’s just grating and not lovable or even likeable. Din was always on edge and if given even the slightest indication that he shouldn’t trust you will never trust you. It was going to take a bit of work for these two to get along but that’s work for another time.

“Well, we should be heading out,” Leia said, separating the two before the situation spiraled out any further. The three of them got into Leia’s ship, and off they flew.

Luke piloted the vessel as Din and Leia talked in the back. Well, Leia talked. Din mostly just listened and tried to get glimpses of Luke piloting the craft. He still had on the flower crown.

He only took it off when they landed. They were on Coruscant, a city that covered an entire planet. Din had never really liked the city. There was a lot more noise and lights than he was used to, having spent most of his life on the outer rim, planets that would hardly have one city on it, much less a city as busy as this one. Din was used to paying close attention at all times to every subtle change in the environment, his senses were getting overwhelmed.

“First time?” Luke asked him. Din nodded. “It’s a lot to get used to. I mean, I grew up on a moisture farm in the middle of nowhere so it was a huge change coming here. But eventually you warm up to it and it starts to make sense.”

Din wanted to hear more about Luke’s childhood, but they were called over to speak to the Coruscant councilor.

“We still have only around 90% of the people who are supposed to be here. I spoke to the last few and they will get here later tonight. Too late to start a meeting but I was thinking we could all have a big welcome banquet for everyone.”

“That’s a great idea,” Leia said. “I’ll help you arrange everything.”

“It’ll be a lot of work to get it ready in time,” Luke added. “I’ll help too.”

“Is there anything you need me to do?” Din asked.

Luke and Leia exchanged a look. “There’s not really much for you to do,” Leia confessed.

“How about you go out and explore the city,” Luke offered.

“The market is open today,” suggested the councilor.

“Oh, the market is great,” Luke agreed. He pulled Din aside and gave him directions on how to get there while Leia and the councilor started preparing the party. Luke also told Din what stalls were his favorite and what to do when he’s there. Then he left to go and help Leia and Din was alone once more.

Well, he thought, might as well see what all the fuss is about.


	4. Chapter 4

The market was very crowded, Din realized. People were shoulder to shoulder, bustling around each other. Not that they were bustling around Din. They took one look at his Mandalorian armor and kept a wide berth. Well, it wasn’t that wide since again the market was really crowded. It was only about a foot on either side but it was more than anyone else was getting by a landslide.

Din walked between the stalls. Most of them were selling food, which Din wouldn’t have been able to really eat unless he did it in the bathroom which didn’t particularly sound that appealing.

The market was nice, Din thought. There were people from all over, all talking and getting to know each other. Din could only actually understand half the languages. There was music coming from somewhere. Buskers, a few of them scattered all over the place. Din went to the nearest one, a young boy who was playing a violin. He was good, and Din threw some coins into his open case. The boy noticed Din when he did it, and nodded his head in a sort of bow, thanking Din. Din nodded back.

He continued on his way. He met a lady selling cookies that were in interesting shapes and got a frog cookie for Grogu. He saw someone who was selling a drink that smelled like hot cider but looked white and milky that Din was interested in. Luckily, the vendor had straws so Din got a cup of that and drank it under his helmet.

People were starting to warm up to him, he noticed. After seeing him interact politely with the vendors they didn’t give him quite so wide a berth. Din liked that not everyone was scared of him, but still missed the extra room.

He was sitting in a sort of central plaza. There were chairs and tables that you could sit down on to relax. Din was just sitting there and people watching.

“Thief!” came a shout. “Pickpocket!”

Din looked over, and saw a girl running away from a guard of some sort. The guard was chasing after her but she was quick. She was ducking around people and stalls, moving around them like she was moving through water. The guard was trying to keep up, red in the face, but had rallied his friends and now three of them were closing in on her.

Din looked at her running. She was young, couldn’t have been more than 16 years old. Her clothes were torn and dirty. Her right leg was hurt and had a big bandage on it and she was walking with a bit of a limp. She was small too. She didn’t look like someone who needed three guards to be taken down. But then again, she didn’t really give those guards much of a chance. She evaded them with both skill and ease but as she ran away, they continued to pursue her. She ran down an alley and they followed.

Din was curious, and activated his jetpack. See, the market stalls were all set up in front of actual buildings that served people every day of the week. There were three main thoroughfares set up in a sort of H pattern but outside that there was just normal city streets and alleyways. Din jetpacked up to a nearby building and watched the chase continue.

The guards pursued her down the alley. She ran quickly, and made a right at the first intersection they came to. But Din could see that as soon as she was out of sight she began using her legs to jump off the sides of the wall and climb them. She made it up to the second-floor window ledge by the time the guards had turned the corner. To them, it looked like she had turned the corner and disappeared. If they had just looked up they would have seen her, though, and she wasn’t going to wait for that to happen. She jumped off the window ledge, aiming to go down the alley that the guards had their back to. There was a horizontal pole that was supposed to hold a flag that she grabbed on her way down to slow her decent. She landed, almost without a sound and kept running. Almost was the operative word because one of the guards turned around and shouted at his comrades that she was behind her. They were pursuing her again, but this time she had a greater head start.

She kept running, away from the market. Din used his jetpack once more to keep up with her and her pursuers. She kept glancing down every alley they came to, looking for something. She has a plan, Din realized. Either that, or she’s looking for something to improvise an escape with. He wondered what she would do.

Then she found it. About halfway down a dead end. A trash chute. Maybe chute wasn’t the right term for these. They were massive, twice the size of any speeder on the market. They had a gigantic door on them that was solid metal and weighted a ton. Usually, the door as shut and you just used the smaller door that functioned as a regular chute to dispose of your garbage but if there’s a big construction site nearby they open up the big door. The big door was secured to the wall at three places along the top. The young thief climbed up on top the chute and began undoing two of the locks that were keeping it up, leaving the one closest to the dead end secured. She then jumped down.

“We got her, boys,” one of the guards said, coming around the corner and seeing her apparently trapped in a dead end. She had a panicked look on her face and turned around to bang her hand against the wall in frustration. But Din saw the truth. He saw the smug smile that was on her face when she had her back turned.

She’s acting, he realized. I wonder what for.

She turned around, and the horrified look was once again covering her face. “No, please. I need this.”

The leader of the guards sneered. “That’s what they all say.” He stepped forward, leading his comrades down the dead end. She looked at them, keeping an eye on the garbage chute.

“We’re taking you in,” the leader told her.

“Fine, but I get to keep what I stole.”

“No, I don’t think you will,” the guard said.

“Fine, I give back what I stole but I don’t go to jail.”

“No, that’s not happening either.”

The main guard was on her now, but she was still eyeing the one last guard who was still too far away. “I’m not exactly sure what you want,” she said. She had dropped the horrified act, and was becoming more and more sarcastic. “I’m trying to work with you here.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen,” he said. “I’m going to take you in _and_ I’m going to take your stuff.”

The last guardsmen crossed the threshold he needed to and a smug smile spread across her face. “No, I don’t think you will,” she responded. She leaped off the walls till she landed back on top of the trash chute. With one hand covering her mouth and nose, she undid the last lock. The chute door fell open and the smell was overpowering. Even from a block away and with an air filtration system in his helmet Din could smell it and it reeked. The three guards that were right next to it were having a fit. They were bent over double, being pushed right up to the dead end to try and get away from the horrible smell that make their eyes water. The girl who had caused such havoc had already skitter across the top edge of the chute and ran away by the guards had recovered enough to look for her.

Din had seen her run away, however, and followed her. It was while chasing her that he began to understand the majesty of her plan. In addition to knocking out the guards long enough to escape. Those doors weighed a ton and they wouldn’t be able to follow her again till they had someone come with a heavy-duty droid to lift it and rescue them. They could walk across the door but it had some sort of foul-smelling condensation on it that had been built up over the centuries of use and they weren’t going to subject themselves to that for a thief that had already gotten away.

Speaking of, the thief in question had well and truly run away from her pursuers. She found a nice dead-end alleyway to lay low for a bit and go through the spoils of her work. Din got a better look at her. She had brown corduroy pants with a white tank top and jacket. The pants had rips at both knees and dirt stains. The tank top had an oil stain on it from some sort of speeder repair. The jacket was loose fitting. It was dark green, made of tougher material, and had many pockets. Din could count at least 6 on the outside, though he was sure there were some inside too. Underneath the outer shell was another jacket. It was grey, and had material so poor quality you could practically see though it. The grey inner jacket had a hood on it, but the hood was down over the outer jacket and the girl’s curly black hair was pulled back in ponytail by a scrunchie. She had leather boots, and Din could spy the outline of a blade on the right side of her right boot. Din had a small blaster in a similar spot for a similar reason.

Having gotten a good look at who he was facing, Din jetpacked down, his back to the only exit. He had her trapped.

“I think you should be returning that,” he instructed her.

She glanced up at him, taking in the Mandalorian armor, his position blocking the exit. She thought about for a second, sizing him up. “No, I don’t think I will,” she responded firmly.

“Yes, you will,” he corrected her. “That stuff isn’t yours, it doesn’t belong to you. You should give it back.”

At that, she snorted in laughter. “Oh, I should give it back, should I?” She asked with exaggerated sarcasm.

“Yes,” Din responded, frankly. He couldn’t see what she was getting at.

“Let me let you in on a little secret.” She stood up, and Din could see her better now. She was about a foot shorter than him, but she was also younger than he first realized, maybe 14. Her dark skin reflected the lights of the city. “I didn’t steal anything from anyone who actually needed it, only from people who has some extra cash that they wouldn’t have noticed gone but would make a huge difference for me.”

“You could have hurt someone,” Din replied.

“But I didn’t. I made sure everyone was safe.”

“What about the guards.”

She smirked. “You’re new here aren’t you?” she asked sarcastically. “Those guards regularly shake down the stall owners for protection money despite already being paid by the city. The stall owners actually like when I steal from them because losing a couple credits on my thievery is better than loosing a couple hundred on protection fees. They still have to pay, but they get a week or so lenience if I’m caught stealing from them.”

“So, you’re doing this _for_ the stall owners?”

“Why else would the guards be so invested in getting this?” She threw her bag on the floor. Out rolled some portions and fruit. An apple rolled all the way over to Din’s foot. She was right, it certainly wasn’t enough to justify the intense chase.

“One question,” Din started. “If you have this arrangement with the stall owners why pickpocket too?”

“This isn’t exactly enough to survive the week, is it?” the girl answered, getting down onto her hands and knees to pick up the food. “And besides, I can only really do this chase about once every other month or they will start to get suspicious. The rest of the time, I pickpocket. And you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to pickpocket these people.”

“Would you ever pick my pocket?”

She smiled. “No. You never pickpocket a Mandalorian.”

“Because our instincts are so sharp you couldn’t get away with it,” Din presumed.

The girl laughed, still picking up fruit. “No, all of your layers of clothes make it really easy take something off of you without you noticing. Excuse me.” She reached over and picked up the apple by Din’s feet. “In some ways you are the easiest to pickpocket.” Having retrieved all the fruit, she stood. She was now face to face with Din. “But the other thing Mandalorians are is way more likely to kill you on sight for such an offence. It’s low risk, but the penalty for incurring that risk is way higher than I’m willing to pay. And since you never really have valuable things on you other than your armor which is hard to steal there’s really no point.”

Din nodded. It made sense, in its own right.

“So, can I go now? Or are you going to drag me back to the guards?”

“You should go, but I will have my eye on you.”

“Please,” she said. “You’ll never see me again.” And with that she disappeared back into the maze of alleyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first original character, plz be kind.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANGST!

Din made it back to council chamber they were staying in. There were rooms set up for all the council members so he made his way up to the one marked Mandalore. Making sure to lock it, he took off his armor. It was a little stinky from the days adventure so he cleaned it and polished it. He wanted to look good for the rest of the councilors. And maybe also Luke who had gone though all this trouble to get him here.

He made his way down to the hall they would be eating in and Luke and Leia were there, greeting everyone as they walked in. Luke perks up when he sees the Mandlaorian walking towards them.

“Master Skywalker,” Din greets him, thinking that since they are at the council meeting, they should be formal with each other since it’s a formal setting after all.

“Mand’alor Djarin,” Luke responds, slightly taken aback by the formalness the way Din addressed him. Maybe he doesn’t want people to know that they are close. “It’s a pleasure having you,” Luke said with a smile.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Din responded, smiling back though Luke couldn’t see it.

“You can take a seat wherever you’d like,” Luke explained. “Leia and I are going to be sitting at the head of the table on the far end.”

Din nodded, then excused himself to find a seat. He was walking down to the other end of the room, but on his way to the other end of the room he saw a familiar face. “Greef Karga?”

His friend looked up, noticing him for the first time. “Well, if it isn’t my old friend.”

“You know this Mandalorian?” the guy next to Greef asked.

“Of course, I do. Please, have a seat.”

Din had wanted to find a seat next to Luke and Leia, but he hadn’t seen Greef in so long and wanted to catch up. Besides, the main reason why he wanted to sit next to Luke and Leia was that he didn’t know anyone but now that wasn’t true. In the end, Din sat.

“Did you see that,” Luke asked his sister, watching Din sit at a spot that wasn’t next to his. “I specifically told him where we were sitting because I wanted him there, now I just look like an idiot.”

“It’s not that bad,” Leia assured him.

“And did you see the way he greeted me?” Luke went on. “ _Master Skywalker_. What’s that about!”

“He probably just doesn’t want you to get accused of playing favorites.”

“Sure,” Luke responded, evidently not believing her.

“Well, how would you have greeted him?” she asked.

“Din,” he responded.

“And maybe he might not want everyone knowing his name,” Leia reminded her younger brother.

Luke sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“And besides, shouldn’t you be happy that he found someone else to talk to?”

Luke looked over to where Din was chatting with the man who had invited him to sit. He knew that he should be feeling happy, but instead found a growing knot of jealousy.

“So how have you been?” Greef asked.

“OK, I guess,” Din answered.

“Cara told me some pretty wild stories about what happened on the bridge that day,” he confessed. “Tell me it isn’t true. Tell me you didn’t have to give up your kid.”

“It’s true,” Din told him. “But it’s not as bad as it sounds. Grogu is at a really good school. I can still visit him if I want to. And besides,” Din glanced back at Luke, “he has a really good teacher who I know takes care of him.”

“Oh,” Greef said knowingly and with a little insinuation in his voice. “I see the other thing Cara told me is also true.”

“What other thing?” Din asked.

“About you being the new Mand’alore,” he lied. “Apparently it happened by accident?”

“Yeah, and I’m still trying to make it un-happen.”

“You’re here, though, aren’t you?” Greef asked. “You must be interested in making it work.”

“I just want what’s best for the Mandalorian people,” he said.

“Have you ever stopped to consider that might be you?” Greef had heard about what a piece of work Bo-Katan was from Cara. Someone like that might not be the best to rule.

Their conversation was cut short when Leia, who had taken her spot at the head of her table along with her brother, held up her glass. Every followed suit, including Din.

“To the work we do for our people, and the friends we make along the way,” she toasted.

Everyone drank except for Din who still had his helmet on, naturally.

Then dinner was served. Din didn’t eat anything and felt like a fool because he was the only one not enjoying the delicious meal. Luke noticed, and asked a waiter to give Din a straw so he could al least drink something.

Luke found that he couldn’t take his eyes off Din. Not that he needed to. Din hardly looked at him the entire meal. Instead, he was talking intently with the people around him. He saw the waiter walk over to Din with the straw. Din refused it at first, but the waiter explained it and gestured over to Luke. Din looked over to Luke, and the jedi sat up straight in his chair. Din nodded at Luke and Luke smiled as Din took the straw. He took a sip of water and Luke realized he had never actually seen Din eat or drink anything.

He slouched back in his chair as he stared at Din in fascination. But then Din looked back at him and he looked away. He didn’t want to seem like he was staring, after all. When he felt Din’s eyes off him, he looked up again, slowly. Din wasn’t talking to his friends anymore, just staring at the plate in front of him. Then Din started to look up again and Luke looked down at his own plate. He realized what was happening, and a small smile grew across his face. He looked up, and saw Din was looking at him and smiled. He couldn’t know it, but he could sense that Din was smiling to. They stayed there like that, just smiling like that.

“Well actually, that’s a really interesting point,” Leia said, completely oblivious to what was happening with her brother. “Luke,” she said, turning to him and pulling him out of the moment he was having with Din, “Galdra would like to ask you about the jedi academy.”

The representative from tou-Ganta restated her question for Luke. “Are you concerned that since you are getting padawans that are older they might not be as easy to train?” she asked.

Luke answered the question as quickly as he could, but when he turned back to Din. The moment had well and truly passed and Din was back talking with his friend. Luke’s heart fell.

Din had no idea what had happened. For some reason, his stomach was doing flips and his mouth was dry and his heart was racing. Din had never felt this way and it was distracting. He was trying to pay attention to what was being discussed but the only thing he could think of is Luke’s soft smile, Luke’s soft hair, Luke’s soft eyes. Luke’s soft lips. Din shook the thought out of his head. Mandalorians are not supposed to think about things like that. Nor are Jedis, so Din should just forget the whole thing.

The meal ended, and everyone went back to their rooms. Din was able to leave the conference room without talking to Luke again. He sat on the edge of the bed and considered everything that had happened since he had first met Luke.

It had started slowly, hadn’t it? He would think about Luke when he wasn’t around. He had insisted that it was because he was looking after Grogu and Din loved Grogu so why wouldn’t he think about him and his teacher. But that wasn’t true. He would think about Luke all the time. It was worst when Luke was with him. When they were together Din wouldn’t be able to look or think about anything else.

But what he didn’t understand is why. Why now? Why Luke? Was it some sort of Jedi mind trick? Why couldn’t Din just treat Luke like everyone else? What had happened to make him so… so… so…

Then he realised. See, he knew that Luke was handsome. He knew that Luke was beautiful. He knew that Luke must leave a trail of broken-hearted men behind him. But it was only now that he realised that he was one of the broken hearted.

It was only now he realised just how much he loved Luke. But Luke was handsome and beautiful and a Jedi and could have anyone he wanted so there was no possible chance for Din. Resigned, Din fell into a haunted sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day was the first council meeting. Leia opened the floor for everyone to speak about whatever issues they were concerned about. Din kept mostly quiet. He had resolved to not say anything. He had accepted how he felt for Luke, and had accepted that it could never happen. It just wouldn’t work. First of all, there was the issue that Din doesn’t remove his helmet so any sort of physical relationship is out of the question. It was only allowed between two married individuals which brings Din two his second point. Luke was a Jedi, and in addition to them being the enemies of the Mandalorian people they weren’t allowed to marry. Plus, Luke was Grogu’s teacher and any sort of relationship would just make it weird for Grogu which Din didn’t want. That’s what he repeated to himself every time he felt his stomach start to turn with longing if he happened to catch a glimpse of Luke. Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu. Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu. It was Din’s mantra.

The council was discussing the imperial outposts. A lot of planets didn’t like that they were still under imperial control while the central planets celebrated their liberation.

“You could bother to make sure the entire galaxy is rid of these guys before declaring they are,” one councilor said.

“Blowing up the death star was good and all but the empire still exists,” another added.

“You can’t exactly celebrate New Republic Day while still under control of the old empire,” one noted.

“This is exactly why we wanted to gather you all here,” Luke told them, taking control over from Leia. “We are trying our best to stamp out the last remaining bases of power but it’s difficult. It’s all on the outer rim planets the local people tend to keep to themselves so it’s hard to track them all down. Plus, every time that we find one, they just move to the next planet and start over. If you have any tips on where they might be please tell us. Leia is trying to get a taskforce going to try and track down and stop the last of the imperial loyalist.”

Everyone nodded, it seemed like a fair statement.

“What about the Mandalorians?” Someone asked.

All eyes were on Din. He wasn’t exactly good at speaking to people one on one, speaking in front of two hundred esteemed heads of state was the last ting he wanted. Luckily, Luke could sense this. “What about the Mandalorians?” Luke asked.

“Well, there was a few Mandalorians who came to my planet. They asked where the imperial base was and we were suspicious at first but against our better judgment, showed them. We showed them the flaws in security we had found and were going to use to take back the base on the understanding that that’s what they are planning on doing. They bust inside and it’s going great, but then they just took the thing that they came here for and left. The base was repaired within a day and now has additional security measures to stop another attack and there’s no way to get in.” The councillor finished her story and looked expectantly at Din.

Din had no idea what he was supposed to do or say. Everyone was looking at him and he was just sitting there being really, really confused.

“Are you going to do something about it?” she prompted.

“Like what?” Din had no idea how he was supposed to react in this situation.

“Take back the base,” she explained. “It was your people that messed it up.”

Din was speechless. He was just one Mandalorian, how was he supposed to take back an entire base that a group of highly trained Mandolorians could only barely take on? How was that fair? And how was it fair that he was supposed to be held responsible for every mistake made by every Mandalorian. “The Mandalorian people are not a monolith,” was all he could say but he doubted that made sense to anyone besides himself.

“We will make sure the new taskforce handles the base,” Leia interrupted. “It’ll get done; I promise.”

The councilor eyed Din suspiciously but didn’t object.

“How about we break for lunch,” Luke offered.

“That seems like a great idea.”

Leia gave everyone a few minutes to stretch their legs while they set up the buffet. Luke went out to call everyone in to eat but noticed that Din wasn’t with the other councilors. Of course, he can’t eat with everyone else. Luke felt stupid for forgetting that again. Still, he must be hungry. Luke fixed a plate and followed the direction the other councilors said he walked away.

Luke found him after a couple minutes. He had found the gym, and was now assaulting a punching bag. He was clearly angry, and was channelling the anger into his fists. Luke watched him, admiring his form. Even though he was angry he never let his technique slip.

“ _Mir'osik_ ,” Din said under his breath as he continued to beat the punching bag senseless.

“What does that mean?” Luke asked.

Din whirled around, and saw Luke standing in the doorway to the gym. “Idiot.”

“What?” Luke didn’t want to be offended, but what else was he supposed to be?

“ _Mir'osik_ means idiot,” Din explained. “Basically.”

“Ahh,” Luke nodded. He chuckled at the misunderstanding.

Din went back to punching his anger out and Luke took a seat a table along the right wall and watched him. He wasn’t as angry now, and Luke liked to think it was because of him. Leia called him a soothing presence, maybe she was onto something.

“I brought you food,” he said, holding up the plate. “I figured you weren’t going to eat with everyone else, so…”

“Thanks,” Din grunted, not stopping his punching.

“How did you find this place?” Luke wondered. He walked over to a nearby table and set down the food.

“I just, kinda, wandered around and found it,” Din replied. He kept punching the bag.

Luke sighed. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

Din stopped. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

“You shouldn’t listen to her,” Luke told him. “You can’t be held responsible for what every Mandalorian does.”

“But I am,” he said. “That’s what I realized. I’m the Mand’alor. I am responsible for my people, all of them. It is literally the job description. I can’t just wash my hands of it and say it’s not my responsibility, it literally is. Every other Mand’alor before me carried the exact same responsibility, but it’s also not the same. They all had everyone, well mostly everyone, on one planet. They would rule that planet and the people on it. But ever since the Great Purge, Mandalorians have been scattered to all corners of the planet. There is no central planet from which to rule everything anymore, it’s just a ghost town. And even if it was suitable for human life, there isn’t a way to find all the mandalorians to bring them there anyway. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find the few that I did. And of course, the only person in the entire stupid galaxy who wants this stupid job isn’t returning my calls. Bo-Katan should be at this meeting, not me. I’m not a ruler, I’m not a leader, I’m just an idiot who wanted to get his kid back.” Din sighed. “I’m supposed to know what I’m doing, but I don’t. Instead, I just feel like a… Like a…”

“Mir'osik?” Luke suggested. He only knew two words in Mando’a but he’d be dammed if he wasn’t going to impress Din with them.

Din chuckled softly, mostly at Luke’s pronunciation. “Yeah.”

Din watched as Luke got up and walked towards him till, they were really close. Luke leaned forward and Din’s fighter instincts took over, stepping back and getting into a defensive position before he could realize that Luke wasn’t attacking him.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Luke promised as Din relaxed. Then he stepped forward and gave Din a big hug.

Din wasn’t used to being hugged. Mandalorian armor didn’t really make it so that you could really feel it below all the layers of clothing. Din was starting to understand what the kid had said yesterday about being really easy to pickpocket. Instead, Mandalorians would touch the foreheads of their helmets together as a sign of affection. But the knowledge that Luke would hug him, that meant a lot to Din.

Din wrapped his own arms around Luke, returning the hug. Luke had been leaning his head against Din’s chest plate, the cool metal felt nice against his burning cheeks, but looked up when Din hugged him back. He smiled softly, and stared into the slit where Din’s eyes should be. “It’s going to be ok,” he promised.

Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu. Din had to repeat it to himself over and over again. Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu. But Luke’s soft smile made Din’s head spin. Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu. But his eyes shone like a thousand suns. Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu. But. But. But.

Din broke the hug, taking a step back. Luke didn’t seem hurt or offended by this, he just smiled and nodded. “I should let you eat,” he said. Then he left. And Din was alone once more.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one, but in my defence I'm bad a describing magic tricks

The rest of the council meeting proceeded as expected. No one talked to Din, and for that he was grateful. They made some plans for new task forces and subcommittees. Din didn’t volunteer for any. He might ask to be a part of the people who were going to track down the remaining imperial strongholds. He had already blown up a few while trying to track down his son, he might start trying to do it intentionally from now on.

After the council meeting was over, Din went to walk out the conference area and back to his room but someone stopped him.

“Din!” Luke called from behind, prompting Din to turn around. “I mean, Mand’alor Djarin.” Luke was running through the lobby after him, his blond hair bouncing with every step. “Din,” he greeted when he arrived in front of the Mandalorian.

“Master Skywalker,” Din nodded back. Helmet, Marriage, Jedi, Grogu, he thought. Don’t think about his hair, he thought. Dammit, he thought.

“Well, the representative from Coruscant had three tickets to the opera-ballet tonight but his kid is sick and he needs to be with her so he gave them to me and Leia and we wondered if you would like to join us.” It was a nice offer, but Din couldn’t accept it. “Please,” Luke begged, sensing Din’s hesitation. “It would be really good for you to be there, if only for a little while.”

Din wanted to say no, but he looked into Luke’s eyes and knew that he couldn’t. Despite the fact that not being able to say no when looking into Luke’s eyes was precisely why he should have said no. Too much time alone with Luke in the dark couldn’t be good for him. Well, they won’t be completely alone. Leia would be there. And Leia is a reasonable chaperone. “Alright,” Din agreed, “but I can’t promise I’ll stay for the entire thing.

Luke beamed with happiness. “That’s perfect.” He gave Din the rest of the details on where to meet before running off to tell Leia.

A few hours later Din arrived at the opera house. Luke and Leia were already there. They were sitting by a pond that was in the middle the courtyard in front of the opera house. There were gardens of grass and shrubs as well, and the elites of the city were all milling around them as they waited for the opera to open it’s doors. Buskers had been hired by the ballet-operahouse to wait outside with the people and serenade them with music while they waited. There were so many rich people, Din felt self conscience about the fact that his clothes hadn’t been washed in a week.

He walked over to Luke and Leia. Luke smiled as he approached. “Why, hello there,” he greeted.

“Hello Luke,” Din returned.

Luke’s smiled brightened for a moment, but Leia gave him a sharp nudge. It seemed to be a reminder of some sort, and Luke’s smile dimmed but didn’t disappear. “Do you know what the opera-ballet is about?” he asked.

“Umm, no,” Din confessed.

Luke explained the basic plot. It’s a love story about two people who grew up together as children. When one is forced to leave to fight in a war, they promise to write to each other. While writing, they fall in love with each other. The day before the man at war is supposed to be sent back home, his troop is bombarded and he is suspected dead. But the man at war isn’t dead, and makes it home only to find that upon hearing news of his death, his lover died of a broken heart. In the end, true love’s kiss brings the lover back to life and the two live happily ever after.

“Right,” Din nodded. “And what’s a opera-ballet.”

Luke explained again. It is a stage in two parts, an upper level and a lower level, and each character has two actors, a ballerina on the upper level and an opera singer on the lower level. The two levels are telling the same story at the same time, with the opera’s music informing the ballet’s dancing. Both parts work together, though sometimes one side has a chance to outperform the other and pull focus. It’s the best of both world, Leia went on. A way to have the top opera singers and the top ballerinas in one place working together.

Din nodded some more. “And when does it start.”

“Should be pretty soon,” Leia said, looking around.

Din also looked around, not that he was expecting to see anyone. Then his blood ran cold.

“What’s wrong,” Luke said.

“Nothing, I just see someone I recognize.”

“Anyone we know?” Leia asked.

“You shouldn’t,” Din told her, walking over to where she was standing by herself in the middle of a patch of grass.

The young girl had clearly washed up, but was wearing the same distinctive green jacket from when they first meet, with all it’s many pockets. She had the same tank top and pants, but had also put on a skirt in an attempt to blend in with the crowd. Not that there was much of a crowd. The courtyard wasn’t nearly as packed as their first meeting. “Thief,” Din introduced himself pleasantly when he got over to her.

“Mandalorian,” she said with a grin.

“I should hope you are not planning on pickpocketing anyone here, are you?”

“You should rather hope that I am pickpocketing someone here rather than pickpocketing someone at the market,” she replied. “These people can afford it.”

“I’m sorry, do you know this young lady?” Luke asked Din.

“She’s a pickpocket and thief that I met at the market yesterday,” Din informed him.

Luke was taken aback. “Well, have you pickpocketed from anyone here?”

“Yes, but in my defence, they deserve it.” She was still telling jokes, and couldn’t help but make Din chuckle a little.

“Are you going to give it back?” Leia asked.

“No,” she replied frankly.

“Why not?” Leia pressed her.

The young girl sighed. “How do I put this,” she said sarcastically. She produced a watch from the pocket of her coat.

“Hey,” Luke said, grabbing his wrist where the watch had been just moments ago.

“If the owner of this watch doesn’t have this watch, then the owner of this watch simply doesn’t have a watch,” the little girl explained. “If I don’t have this watch, then I don’t have food for a week.”

“I get what you’re saying,” Leia said sympathetically.

“I do to,” Luke repeated, “but I still want my watch back.”

“What watch?” the young girls asked, making it disappear. Luke stared dumfounded at the space where the watch was. “This one?” she made it appear in her other hand. It was clear that in addition to pickpocketing this girl was also very good at close up magic and sleight of hand.

“Yeah,” Luke said, lunging at it with his arm outstretched.

“Not so fast,” she said side stepping away from him.

“Give me back my watch!” Luke demanded.

“But I don’t have it,” she said honestly, revealing both her hands as proof. Luke was perplexed. “Maybe check your wrist,” she prompted. Luke looked down and sure enough the watch was right back where it had started, as if it never left.

A small crowd had appeared around them and clapped for her, as if this was all one big magic show. She smiled and bowed.

“How did you do that?” Din asked.

“The cardinal rule of pickpocketing is the same as the cardinal rule for magic,” she explained. “Don’t watch the face, watch the hands.” She held her hands up to show him. “How about another demonstration?” she asked the crowd who clapped, cheering her on. She was naturally charismatic, and everyone looked at her in rapt attention. She turned to Luke and Leia. “If I promise to return everything can I use you two?”

Leia had actually enjoyed the little demonstration of her skill. She nodded her agreement. Luke was a little apprehensive, but saw how much the crowd enjoyed it and got he had got his watch back at the end anyway. Plus, Din seemed to enjoy this young woman’s company, he had heard Din laugh at her jokes, so what’s the harm in the end.

“Only if you promise,” Luke told her.

“I do,” she confirmed. She took her place between the two twins, with Luke on her right and Leia on her left. Din watched her. “How about you two introduce yourselves,” she started.

“I’m Leia Organa,” Leia said.

The young girl shook her hand and the crowd could see her palm the bracelet around Leia’s wrist. Leia, however, was distracted by the girl saying: “That name sounds familiar, should I know who you are?”

“I was a general in the rebellion and have been working to bring the galaxy together under the new republic,” Leia explained.

“Ahh, you’re clearly really important. I probably shouldn’t steal from you too much.” As the girl said this she showed off the bracelet on her wrist that had only moments before been on Leia’s. The crowd gave a small laugh. She then turned to her other side. “How about you, what’s your name?”

“Luke Skywalker,” he answered.

“Jedi knight extordonaire,” the girl remembered.

“That’s me,” Luke confirmed.

“I bet it’s pretty hard to steal from you,” she said, growing increasingly sarcastic.

“It is, actually.”

“Then how do I have your watch?” she asked, holding it up for the crowd. They all laughed at her comedic timing, even Din chuckled. “Here, I’ll give it back.” She handed it back to him and he put it on his wrist. “Keep an eye on it, you don’t want me to steal it again,” she warned him. She was working him and the crowd the way a magician would, joking with them and making them smile and laugh. Knowing that it was all just a magic show made Luke relax.

“Don’t worry you won’t,” he promised with a smile.

“I’m pretty sure I just did.” She held up the watch once more. “Keep it safe because, just to warn you, it’s going to be the next thing I steal.” She handed it back with a smirk.

Luke put it back on his wrist. “Don’t worry you won’t get a chance.”

“You sure about that?”

“Positive?”

“Very positive?”

“Very _very_ positive.”

“How positive are you now?” She held the watch up once more. The crowd cheered her on.

“How are you doing it that fast?” Luke couldn’t help but wonder aloud.

“Pure luck,” she joked. “Here, I’ll help you this time. We’ll put it on your wrist and you’ll keep your hand over it, just like that.” His left hand was covering the watch on his right wrist securely. “There, now I can’t steal it without moving the hand, yes.”

“Yes,” Luke confirmed.

“And you won’t move the hand so I can’t steal it,” she prompted.

“Exactly.”

“Jedi’s, they move things with their minds, don’t they?”

“That’s an oversimplification but yes.”

“Well, I actually have some jedi lineage, did you know that?”

“Really?” Luke wasn’t surprised. She was very skillful, it would make sense she was force-sensitive.

“No, that’s a complete lie,” she answered him, making him laugh. “I just need it for the bit I’m doing.”

“And what bit is that?” Din asked from the crowd.

“Very good question, random stranger. I am going to steal his watch with my mind,” she declared. Luke smirked and a hush came over the crowd. She took a finger up to the side of her forehead and made a big show of concentrating on Luke’s hand. Then she nodded definitively. “There, it is done.”

“No way,” Luke said. He could still feel it under his hand.

“Then what’s this?” she asked, holding up his watch once more.

Shocked, Luke took away his hand only to reveal his sister’s bracelet on his wrist, not his watch.

“How did you….?” Leia asked, for the first time looking down to her bare wrist.

The crowd applauded and the young girl took another exaggerated bow as the twins exchanged their items. She proceeded with her impromptu little show, doing a bit where she took every piece of jewelry that Leia had on and putting it on Luke then switching it all back. Din could keep track of her monuments about a third the time. Another third he could see what she did in hindsight. But the remaining third he had no idea what was happening or how she could do that. She was really good at her job, both with the slight of hand and working the crowd. She was charming, charismatic and funny, keeping the crowd and her subject entranced by telling jokes and stories.

She proceeded to do another bit where she would steal an item and hold it above the head of the person in plain view of everyone and see how long it would take them to notice. A good solid minute, it turns out. She did this another few times till Luke and Leia started to catch on.

“Why don’t you steal from the Mandalorian?” one theater goer asked from the crowd.

Din smiled. “It’s because you never steal from a Mandalorian,” he explained triumphantly.

“No,” she refuted calmly. “It’s because I already stole from him.”

“What, no you didn’t,” Din told her.

“Then how did I get this?” she asked, pulling a blaster out of her back pocket.

Din was dumbfounded. “How _did_ you get that? _When_ did you get that?”

“She stole it off you,” Luke explained.

“No, you don’t understand. That blaster is my emergency one that I keep hidden in my boot at all times.” Din couldn’t see how she could have possibly retrieved it.

“I told you, don’t watch the face. Watch the hands.” She was smiling, clearly pleased with herself.

“I watched the hands. I’ve been doing nothing but watching the hands. I’ve gotten really good at watching the hands. They didn’t go anywhere near my boot.”

“But what do the hands represent,” she prompted. “You are only looking at the small picture, the face. You need to take a step back and see everything to understand what’s going on. So open up your mind. What are you missing?”

Din thought for a moment, trying to figure it out. When he got it, he sighed. “The apple.”

“Yesterday at the market I picked up an apple that was at his feet as cover for picking up the weapon inside his boot,” she explained to the crowd before turning back to Din. “The best way to distract someone while you steal from them? Give a whole big speech on how you’d _never_ steal from _them_.”

Din laughed. “You sarcastic little shit.”

“Please, sarcastic little shit was my father.” It was a joke, but Din could tell that there was some truth to it, deep down. “Call me Ille,” she said, tossing him back his gun.

“Ille,” he repeated. “And that whole thing about how if a Mandalorian catches you stealing from them you die?”

“You clearly underestimate how much I long for death,” she joked.

Just then a trumpet fanfare announced that it was opening it’s doors and that the play would start in 30 minutes. The crowd began to disperse.

“Hey, where are you going!” Ille called as Din, Luke and Leia began to make their way to the orchestra hall.

“To take our seats,” Luke said obviously.

“You owe me,” Ille insisted. “I got so distracted with you guys I completely forgot to rob these people.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Leia asked.

“Yes, I still have to eat,” she reminded them.

“Didn’t you say you already robed them?” Luke asked.

“That was only because I still had Din’s blaster on be,” Ille explained. “I only got here a few minutes before you came over to talk to me, I didn’t have any time to rob anyone.”

“Well, what do you want us to do about it?” Din asked.

“I want to make a wager with you three,” Ille proposed. “Din said he’s gotten really good at spotting what I’m doing. I will steal three items off you two and hide them. If he can guess where they are, you keep them. If he can’t, I keep them. Deal?”

The three adults looked at each other. They felt kind of bad this little girl who didn’t have two credits to rub together. And she was skilled. If she won this wager, she would earn it. “Deal,” they said in unison.

A small crowd had begun to form again. It was around half the size of the first crowd. Ille told Leia how nice it is to have a woman in charge as she undid the clasp of her necklace. It slid down over top of her dress till Ille caught it on the toe of her boot. She quickly brought the boot up and took the necklace in her hand and slid it into her left breast pocket. Din made a note of all of this.

She turned to Luke, plucking the lightsaber off his belt with nimble fingers. Seeing her do it so easily, he felt the darksaber on his own belt to make sure it was still there. It was, and he looked up just in time to see Ille slide the lightsaber into the waistband of her skirt. The lightsaber stuck out and Din could clearly see it as Ille turned around and take Leia’s bracelet. In hindsight, this should have been a red flag that Ille wasn’t playing the game as intended, when Din could clearly see the thing he was trying to find.

Ille finished up by putting Leia’s bracelet in the front right pocket of her coat. Then she turned to Din. “Did you catch all that?” she asked.

“I got it,” he confirmed.

“You sure you don’t want to back out?” she asked.

“I’m confident,” he said.

“Very well.” Turning to Luke and Leia she said: “The two of you should, collectively, be a necklace, a bracelet and a lightsaber lighter than you were at the start.”

“Wait, lightsaber?” Luke asked. He was slightly panicking. “You never said anything about taking my lightsaber.”

“I said three items on your person,” Ille reminded him.

“Don’t worry,” Din assured him. “I got this.”

“Well then, take it away,” Ille prompted. “Where is the necklace?” she asked.

“Left breast pocket,” he replied.

“This one?” Ille asked, pointing to it.

“Yep.” Din was very confident in his answer.

“Wrong,” she said frankly.

“What?” Din had seen her put it there.

“Go on, check,” she prompted. He walked over, opened the pocket and sure enough, no necklace. “I don’t believe this. How?”

“Don’t worry, you have another chance,” Ille assured him. “Where’s the bracelet?”

“Bottom right pocket,” Din told her, less confident in his answer this time.

“Check it,” she dared him.

He did, and found the pocket empty. “How.”

“One last chance, and this one’s the big one. Where’s the lightsaber?” Everyone held their breath.

“Tucked into the back of your skirt.”

“Confident with that answer?”

“I am, actually. I saw it sticking out of there so I know that’s where it is.”

“Saw it sticking out of where exactly?” she asked, turning around. Sure enough, no lightsaber.

“How.” That was the only thing Din could say.

“Want to know your first mistake?” she said slyly. “You said the necklace was in this pocket,” she patted her left breast pocket, “when it was actually in this pocket.” She patted her left breast pocket again.

“No, I checked. I didn’t see anything.”

“You sure?” She pulled the necklace out of it’s designated pocket, revealing it for the crowd.

“How?”

“I told you, watch the hands.”

“I did. I saw you put it in that pocket.”

“If you were watching the hands, you would have seen no such thing,” she insisted. She put the necklace back in the pocket. “See, now you’re watching the place the hand was, not the hand itself.” She turned her hand over to reveal she had palmed it. “The necklace was never in the pocket, you guessed wrong.” She put the necklace around her neck.

“You also guessed wrong with the bracelet,” she continued, happily. “You said, front right pocket. What you should have actually said, is front right pocket.” She revealed the bracelet to the crowd’s delight and put it on her wrist. “And as for the lightsaber, you couldn’t have been more wrong. You said back right pocket but you should have said-” Her face fell as she reached behind her. “You should have said-” She was patting the back of her pants, looking for it. She started looking on the ground too.

“Did you drop it?” Din asked, concerned.

“I don’t know,” she confessed, still scanning the ground.

“Did you lose it?” Luke asked, very worried.

“I don’t know!” She was visibly distraught. Din started looking around for it, so did everyone else, concerned by the scene that was unfolding.

“How can you not know!” Luke was getting a bit angrier now.

“I don’t know! Maybe… Maybe…”

“Maybe what,” Luke prompted.

“Maybe, Mandalorian, you should check in _your_ back pocket.” The last sentence she dropped the act and spoke in her most magician-y voice. Everyone’s worries were soothed, now knowing it all to be a bit. Din reached into his cloak in disbelief, he genuinely didn't feel her planting anything on him, but sure enough, there was Luke’s lightsaber.

“I’m guessing you put it on there when I came over to check your pockets,” he told her.

“You would have guessed right,” she smiled at him. “Keep the lightsaber, but don’t expect me to give back the other two items.”

“Fair enough,” Din said, and Luke and Leia agreed.

“We really should be heading in,” Leia reminded them.

“See you around,” Luke said.

“Oh, you’ll never see me again,” she told him, walking away.

“That’s what you said the last time,” Din reminded her.

“Well, one of these times it’s bound to be true,” she rationalized as she disappeared into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

The ballet opera was good. Or at least, it was a technical masterpiece but Din wasn’t fully aware of all the things that made it so masterful and had no idea what was going on but more or less enjoyed it.

During intermission, a couple people who had been outside with them earlier asked Din if the girl was going to give another performance at intermission, thinking she was hired by the ballet-operahouse the same way the buskers were. She wasn’t, he sadly informed them. They asked if she was a practicing magician, if they could attend one of her shows. He didn’t know what to say. He had ne idea what to say, knowing next to nothing about her other than her name which he had only just learned. Is this how everyone feels when he blows into a town, spends two days with them and leave without even telling them his name or contact details? He was beginning to realize why he didn’t have many friends.

He was concerned, though. He was realizing just how much he didn’t know about her. Did she have an apartment or was she sleeping on the street? Was she exaggerating about not being able to eat for a week or was that all true? Did she have a father or mother or older mentor figure who would look after her? She was young, she shouldn’t have to live on her own. But that joke about having a shitty father was still ringing in Din’s head.

In Mandalorian culture, children were sacred. One of the Mandalorian core tenants was to raise your children well and in the Mandalorian tradition. Seeing a little girl with either no parents to speak of or very bad ones gave him the same pit in his stomach as when he first found Grogu, all alone with no one to look after him. It wasn’t right. It just wasn’t right.

Luke, Leia and Din went back to the conference center. Luke walked Din to his room.

“I hope the evening wasn’t too boring,” he said.

“It wasn’t,” Din assured him. “I actually, kinda had fun.”

“It was nice to meet your friend,” Luke said.

“We’re not friends, not really. That was only the second time I had ever seen her. Besides, I don’t really have friends.” He was beginning to realize that.

“You don’t?” Luke asked.

“Not really. I’m never really in one place long enough for anyone to be more than an acquaintance. And the people I meet on the job aren’t really the kind of people you want to hang out with.” Din noticed the concern on Luke’s face. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I’m fine with not having friend. Mandalorians are taught to be self sufficient, so I don’t really need them.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just…” Luke was having trouble finding the words. They had come to Din’s door and stopped. Din wanted to hear what Luke had to say. “Ok, maybe I’m wrong and maybe I’m reading too much into this and maybe I just like to think of everyone as my friend but I kind of thought that I might be yours. Like, we know each other and still sort of like each other and if you didn’t think of me as a friend I understand. If you just want me to be your kid’s teacher I’ll back off but I do want to be your friend. I really want to be your friend.” Luke looked up at Din with what can only be described as puppy eyes and Din could feel his heart melt.

“I want to be your friend too,” Din confessed.

Luke smiled warmly. “Good. Friends it is.”

They stood there in silence, just looking at each other for a moment. Din didn’t know how friends are supposed to behave, he had never had one. Truth is, he knew nothing of friends but did know that one activity they participated in was sleepovers. Would it be weird if he asked Luke to have a sleepover this soon after becoming friends?

Luke was very silently kicking himself. Part of the reason why he had walked Din to his room was so that he could maybe get an invite inside. But now, even if he got an invite, there’s practically no chance it would end with him seducing Din since he had gone off on a whole speech about how they were friends. He didn’t regret it, exactly, since he knew that it’s what Din needed and even if nothing happened between them romantically Luke still wanted to be Din’s friend.

“Well, I should probably be off,” Luke finally said, excusing himself. “Leia won’t want to go to sleep till I get back. Good night, Din.”

“Good night, Luke,” Din wished his new friend as he went back inside.

He collapsed onto the bed after a long day. The council meeting, the ballet-opera, plus the magic show in between, it had all been exhausting. It would be over tomorrow and he would be going home. Which led him to wondering about next steps.

He knew that the next thing he should do is probably something about Mandalorians and being Mand’alor and the planet he now rules but that sounded complicated so he wasn’t going to do that. Instead, he was going to try and make friends. Yeah, that seemed like a much simpler thing to do. He had no idea how to do it either, but surly it can’t be as hard as ruling a planet. And if Din was good at one thing, it was avoiding whatever it is he’s supposed to be doing.


	9. An Epilogue

Two imperial officers were in the heart of the New Republic, and that made them nervous. They weren’t wearing their uniforms, which made them even more nervous. But if they were to blend in with the people of Coruscant, they would have to wear street clothes. They had kept their regulation boots, regulation haircut, and regulation watch which made them stand out in a crowd but they weren’t in a crowd, they were waiting for their commanding officer at the back exit of the Coruscant Council Chamber.

Their commanding officer approached them. She was deep undercover, and had blended in with the locals, but her perfect imperial salute was unmistakable. Then their contact came forward.

He was a grubby fellow, with a hunch from spending too much time at a computer screen. “You got my money?” One officer handed it to his commanding officer who handed it to the young man. He opened the briefcase and looked it over. “Very well, come with me.”

He used his key to open the locked employee’s entrance then led them into the maze of underground tunnels that the Chamber staff use to get around the building without being seen. It was a busy and bustling place. All the visiting guests had left the day before and everyone was working to clean all the rooms and prepare for the next guests. With so many extra staff hired to handle the extra workload, the three imperial spies fit right in.

Their informant led them all the way to the security room. “You have five minutes,” he told them.

“We paid for thirty,” the commanding officer said.

“Well, unless you want me to start yelling ‘imperial spy’ you’ll take five or hand over more money.” He was slimy, but she had more important things to deal with.

They went through the security footage, each having their own monitor, scanning for something.

“There,” she said, pointing to one of her officer’s screens. She pointed to where Luke, Leia, and the Mandalorian were standing together, in the Chamber’s hall. “Start recording,” she instructed, as he slid in his recording device. “And try and get as many angles as you can.”

“I think I found them,” the other officer said. It was Luke and the Mandalorian, standing outside one of their doors.

“Very good. Record.” The officer did as she instructed.

“Two minutes left,” the slimy informant said, looking at his watch. He was outside the security room, as lookout while the three imperials did their work inside.

They worked as fast as they could, finding and recording their target from all sort of angles, but time was running out.

“That’s it, time’s up,” the informant said, coming into the room to usher them out.

“We paid for more.” The two officers kept doing their work while she turned around to talk to their informant. He was just on the threshold, half in the room half in the hallway.

“You’re not getting more,” he told her.

“Then you’re going to have to drag me out of her,” she said calmly.

“Don’t think I won’t you little bi-” He made the mistake of stepping into the room entirely, and the second the door closed shut the commanding officer drew her gun from behind her and shot him twice in the heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.

She coldly holstered her gun once more, then turned around to finish her work, not even flinching at the dead body on the floor.

When they were done, they all collected their memory sticks with all the footage they had found. The officers were going to take it straight to The Basement, an underground facility in the outer rim. The commanding officer still had a few more things to take care of in the city, but would meet them there shortly.

They had taken back their money from their dead informant, and had deleted the footage of them coming into the building and set a timer that would delete the next 5 minutes of underground footage, covering their tracks.

“You should have let us have what we paid for,” she said to the dead body on the ground, before stepping over it and leaving.


End file.
